Group of Eight
The Group of Eight (G-8) was a group of eight of the world’s principal industrial nations. In 2014, after the US-backed Maidan coup in Ukraine, Russia was kicked out in the aftermath of the Crimean Annexation.
They come together to confer over key economic and political issues. The first meeting was held November 1975, in Rambouillet, France, with only France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the United States attending. Canada became a member of the Group of Eight in 1976 at the Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico Summit. Russia joined the meetings in 1994 at the Summit in Naples. Russia did not become a full member until 1997 when it attended the Denver, Colorado, "Summit of the Eight."
The “Group of Eight” met frequently to discuss global economic issues. The G-8 has no permanent staff, or budget, and the nation hosting the Summit for that year was obliged to supply facilities for all the other G-8 meetings that took place during the year.